[language] Syntax and Semantics

[H.M. Hubey]

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American Scientist
Syntax and Semantics

Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy

Foundations of Language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution. Ray Jackendoff. xx
+ 477 pp. Oxford University Press, 2002. $40.

What is language for? A nonlinguist would probably reply, "For expressing
meaning by means of sound (or gesture)." If this commonsense answer is right,
we should expect semantics (the study of meaning) to be at the heart of
linguistic theory. It comes as a surprise to most beginners in contemporary
mainstream linguistics when they find that, instead, the central component of
language is presented as syntax. Semantics is not even in second place; what
comes next in respect to time devoted to it in linguistic curricula is
phonology (the study of speech sounds). No wonder linguistics can seem such a
dry discipline: The aspect of language that to a nonexpert seems most
important, namely the substance of what it can convey, is downgraded in favor
of the austere technicalities of conveyance. This is true not only of the
Chomskyan approach that has been dominant since the 1960s, but also of the
structuralist approaches that preceded it.

Full text
http://americanscientist.org/bookshelf/Leads02/02-07Lcarstairs-mccarthy.html

Foundations of Language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution
by Ray Jackendoff
Hardcover: 496 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.24 x 9.84 x 7.04
Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr (Trade); ISBN: 0198270127; (March 2002)
AMAZON - US
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0198270127/darwinanddarwini/
AMAZON - UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0198270127/humannaturecom/

>From Library Journal

Jackendoff (linguistics, Brandeis Univ.) tackles the substantial tasks of
assessing where Noam Chomsky's foundation of research has led linguistics and
reinterpreting his theory of universal grammar. While embracing many of
Chomsky's ideas, Jackendoff proposes his own overall theory of language. His
well-documented discussion covers "combinatoriality" (or grammar rules) and
language processing, as well as lexical and phrasal semantics. Jackendoff's
inquiry draws on and complements research in neuroscience, psychology, and
biological evolution. For example, he examines working and long-term memory in
language production and, most important, discusses phonology, syntax, and
semantics as parallel, equally productive, or generative aspects of language.
Like Lyle Jenkins (Biolinguistics: Exploring the Biology of Language, Cambridge
Univ., 2000), he emphasizes connections between language and biology. Lacking a
glossary and a list of the numerous abbreviations, this work is scholarly in
approach and hence less accessible than works like Trevor Harely's broad,
updated The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory (Psychology Pr., 2001.
2d ed.). It is nevertheless a significant piece of scholarship and is highly
recommended for academic libraries. Marianne Orme, Des Plaines P.L., IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Book Description

Already hailed as a masterpiece, Foundations of Language offers a brilliant
overhaul of the last thirty-five years of research in generative linguistics
and related fields. "Few books really deserve the cliche 'this should be read
by every researcher in the field,'" writes Steven Pinker, author of The
Language Instinct, "But Ray Jackendoff's Foundations of Language does."
Foundations of Language offers a radically new understanding of how language,
the brain, and perception intermesh. The book renews the promise of early
generative linguistics: that language can be a valuable entree into
understanding the human mind and brain. The approach is remarkably
interdisciplinary. Behind its innovations is Jackendoff's fundamental proposal
that the creativity of language derives from multiple parallel generative
systems linked by interface components. this shift in basic architecture makes
possible a radical reconception of mental grammar and how it is learned. As a
consequence, Jackendoff is able to reintegrate linguistics with philosophy of
mind, cognitive and developmental psychology, evolutionary biology,
neuroscience, and computational linguistics. Among the major topics treated are
language processing, the relation of language to perception, the innateness of
language, and the evolution of the language capacity, as well as more standard
issues in linguistic theory such as the roles of syntax and the lexicon. In
addition, Jackendoff offers a sophisticated theory of semantics that
incorporates insights from philosophy of language, logic and formal semantics,
lexical semantics of various stripes, cognitive grammar, psycholinguistic and
neurolinguistic approaches, and the author's own conceptual semantics. Here
then is the most fundamental contribution to linguistic theory in over three
decades.

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